By: Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos(GOA)Commentaries: Adaptation and Acculturation Are Inevitable, Unavoidable and Acceptable

Posted on Monday, November 26 @ 01:01:29 EST by greek_news

By: Bishop Demetrios of MokissosIt is my special honor and privileges this day to offer greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on behalf of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, the Exarch of the Ecumenical Throne in the Americas, and the spiritual father of the Greek Orthodox Christians of the United States.

His Eminence is unfortunately unable to be with you for this symposium, but is certainly with us in spirit, for there is no person more interested in “meeting the needs of young Greek Americans” which is the main theme of this event. Indeed, His Eminence has asked me to convey his great concern, his care, his love and most importantly his prayers for all his spiritual children, but especially for those who will be charged with “guarding the treasure” entrusted to our generation and those that will follow. This treasure is the legacy of our identity as Greek Orthodox Christians: our faith, our spiritual values, and our cultural inheritance. Gathered here so close to our nationʼs capital, we may not even be fully conscious of the extent of our cultural legacy, echoing in the political values of democracy, and seen in the consciously classical art and architecture of this relatively young republic. Therefore, His Eminence is truly grateful to His Excellency, Ambassador Alexandros Mallias of Greece; the Greek Secretary General of Information, Mr. Panos Livadas; the World Council of Hellenes, and its President in the United States Mr. Theodore Spyropoulos; the American Hellenic Institute, and the Hellenic American National Council and its President Mr. Emmanuel Velivasakis, for providing this forum for the young persons who inherit the mantle of Hellenism. This forum has the opportunity to foster a sense of unity, communion, and responsibility for holding fast to the traditions of our ancestors while finding ways for our cultural institutions to remain relevant in this time and place.

As the senior Orthodox Christian hierarch in the New World, His Eminence would be the first to note that the Greek Orthodox Church is not simply a cultural institution. The Body of Christ, the Church, transcends our worldly institutions. Yet we may also note that those institutions that our people have preserved or founded, are with us precisely because the Church allowed our people to survive – as an ethnos-- through the darkest of times. When I was a seminarian, another hierarch of our Church used to fondly say that to be Greek is to be Orthodox and to be Orthodox is to be Greek. In proper context, these words simply acknowledge historical truth: there would be no lasting, living Hellenic culture, were it not for the Church.

As noted historian Father Demetrios Constantelos reminds us, “Culture is the outer garment of religion, and religion is the heart of culture.” In many ways, this has been true in the experience of the modern Greeks since emancipation from the Ottoman Yoke, though our Hellenism is not the same culture of Plato, Aristotle, Pericles and the 300 Spartans. It is, however, descended from that culture (actually, several related cultures). What was good and worthy and valuable in those times was preserved. Indeed, elements of these cultures were appreciated by the whole Mediterranean world and as far as Alexander conquered. And so we of Greek ancestry find ourselves today appreciating our cultural inheritance.

But living here in America means we are not living simply as Hellenes. We have adapted to an American way of life; the earliest immigrants from Greece and Asia Minor – our protoporoi -- had to adapt. Adaptation is always necessary for survival in any culture and society. Those of us born in the United States, but appreciating our Greek ancestry, have already acculturated to some extent: our identity is the result of a merger between Hellene and American (both terms being somewhat ambiguous). Adaptation and acculturation are inevitable, unavoidable and acceptable. Indeed, perhaps even beneficial. After all, the modern Hellenic culture is the result of acculturation and adaptation by many peoples over a great length of time. If our modern Greek cultural life is worthy of celebration—as I believe it is—then we cannot fear nor resist acculturation; to do so would be to reject our own history and heritage. One of the things that has made the so-called “American Experiment” so successful is the fact that so many different cultures find expression here in the United States in a relative peaceful co-existence.

What many worry about today, for various reasons, is the rate of assimilation, which is neither adaptation nor simply acculturation. Assimilation is the loss or rejection of one cultural identity in favor of another. For those of us from a Hellenic background, it would mean the rejection or forgetting of this heritage in favor of another—whatever that may be. It is the loss of cultural memory. It is the loss—by rejection—of tradition. And tradition is an inherited and lasting value. If Hellenism is to survive, it will be through our traditions, and these cannot be separated or segregated from the Orthodox Church.

not simply theoretical principles. They are incarnate through our daily living in our current culture; for those of us in the United States of Hellenic ancestry or origin, a Hellenic-American culture. We carry forth into our shared American society the lasting values of our ancestors. As Orthodox Christians, in the words of Father Alkiviadis Calivas, former dean of our Seminary, we need not abandon our roots nor be apologetic about the fact that we carry with us cultural values that have been hammered out in places and times other than our own. Indeed, this very fact acts to remind us of our own responsibility and mission to be active and creative participants in the historical process.

Instead of fearing the loss of our cultural heritage, we should embrace the desire of others to share it. That which is immortal and valued by everyone will not perish. What is good and true will survive regardless of our efforts or neglect—there is no philosophical idea more Greek. Instead of taking hopeless measures to preserve that which cannot die, our efforts should be to bring an awareness and appreciation of our living Hellenic culture to others, and this coincides with the mission of the Church.

Our Hellenic culture is part and parcel of our Orthodox Church experience. We act, sometimes, as if we do not want to share this heritage, but mummify it. Of course, in all this, the priority for Orthodox Christians can never be a language, a human culture, ethnicity, nation. Our true homeland, our first patrida as we sing at every mnymosynon, is the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom, the Lord will not remove our Hellenic identity from us. Rather, what is good, and honest, and true, and valued will be manifest in us and through us, shared among all persons by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Sharing the lasting values, the traditions of our ancestors, is our movement to this unity and communion; not something to be feared but welcomed in our movement to the Kingdom as the Body of Christ.

Again, I express the greetings of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America together with his gratefulness to the organizers of this event and all participants, offering his paternal blessings for success, renewal in spirit and perseverance in guarding the treasure of Christian Hellenism entrusted to us.

*** Bishop Demetriosʼ of Mokissos address on behalf of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, to the First Symposium of SAE USA “Meeting the Needs of Young Greek Americans: Opportunities and Perspectives in the USA and Greece”. Washington, D.C., NOVEMBER 16 – 18, 2007

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